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Dig Reveals Story of Prehistoric Cornish

Evidence of prehistoric activity dating back to the Neolithic era has been discovered on land in Scarcewater, near St Stephen, where work on a china clay tip is to begin shortly. Archaeologists from Cornwall County Council's Historic Environment Service have been uncovering the early history of the area and will present their findings during an invitation-only open day for interested groups and local schools later this month.

The team is working closely with china clay company Imerys, which is funding the project and assisting with the removal of modern layers from the site.

During the excavations, finds and features have been uncovered which appear to represent four stages of prehistoric activity - Neolithic, early bronze age, middle bronze age and the later bronze/iron ages.

Previous fieldwork carried out by the HES revealed a long history of ceremonial and settlement activity at Scarcewater spanning five millennia.

Senior archaeologist Andy Jones said: "The excavations at Scarcewater are the largest archaeological excavations to be undertaken in the county and are providing a fantastic opportunity to investigate shifting prehistoric settlement patterns over several millennia."

Imerys community and public relations manager Ivor Bowditch said: "The company is always conscious of its responsibility to preserve or record historic data which unfolds as the industry itself develops.

"Not in all cases can preservation be made due to the nature of the extractive business, but, as in the case of Scarcewater, we were able to fund professional, archaeological work to retrieve important data and record for posterity the finds of such an excavation."

l Anyone interested can contact Andy Jones from the HES on 01872 323691 or email andjones@cornwall.gov.uk